Hand Me Down World

　　她必須用骯髒、不堪、犯罪等手段，才能找回被偷走的孩子。
　　但這樣的她……還有資格當一個母親？

　　繼受讀者愛戴的暢銷小說《荒島上遇見狄更斯》之後，紐西蘭小說家羅伊德．瓊斯推出了最新的創作小說《流浪的母親》，內容描述一位母親不惜一切代價，走遍各地尋找被偷走的愛子。是許多讀者看完之後，依然感動久久無法忘懷的深情佳作。

　　一個女子從西西里島偷渡上岸。她來自北非，急於尋找失蹤的愛子。當初，孩子才出生幾天，就被他的生父強行抱走帶到柏林，至今毫無消息。女子除了她一身的女傭制服外，全部的家當就只剩一個內藏小刀的塑膠袋；這趟漫漫旅程，全靠陌生人的指引相助------有些人和善大方、有些人卻佔盡便宜。

　　透過這些陌生人的口述，道出了與這位女子相遇的經過。他們眼中的她沉默寡言又神祕，老穿著一件藍色外套，每個人對她都有番不同的觀察和解讀。作者將這些口述故事片斷拼湊在一起，女子這份堅毅的母愛和犧牲，逐漸清晰可見。

　　《流浪的母親》如同史詩般的雋永情節，充分展現出一位母親的偉大與勇氣，讓人感受到母愛那足以救贖人心的終極力量。

　　This is the story of a young African mother's journey to reclaim the infant son heartlessly stolen from her. Beginning in Tunisia, where she is employed as a hotel maid, the novel follows her as she makes an illegal, near-death crossing of the Mediterranean, then up the length of Italy, across the Alps, and on to Berlin, where her child has been given a new home. We learn the mother's story through the people she meets along the way, human links in the perilous chain of her journey: a taxi driver, a hunter, a snail collector, a street performer, a blind man. Most are generous, some malevolent, but all write their own deeply personal needs on the nearly blank slate of a mother whose needs are greatest of all. Finally, the woman herself picks up the narration, retelling her story in her own words. And only then do we understand the extent of the sacrifices she has been willing to make for the love of her child.

　　After eight novels, and following on the heels of his award-winning, bestselling Mister Pip, Hand Me Down World confirms Lloyd Jones's stature as one of the most provocative and important writers today. Dazzling in its literary effects, powerful in its emotions, this is a masterwork of contemporary fiction.

　　★本書中譯版《流浪的母親》由大步出版社出版。

作者簡介

羅伊德．瓊斯(Lloyd Jones)

　　本書為〈荒島上遇見狄更斯〉作者羅伊德．瓊斯，最新感人新作。羅伊德．瓊斯1955年出生於紐西蘭。代表作包括榮獲大英國協作家獎及入圍布克獎的《荒島上遇見狄更斯》(Mister Pip)、曾獲多種文學獎的《聲名之書》（Book of Fame）、《我們在世界的盡頭學習跳舞》（Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance）、《傳記》（Biografi）、《啾喔》（Choo Woo）、《畫出你的太太》（Paint Your Wife），以及具超現實主義的《在屋子裡的男人》（The Man in the Shed）等書，目前定居於紐西蘭首都威靈頓

　　Lloyd Jones was born in New Zealand in 1955. His many books include Biografi (a New York Times Notable Book), Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance, and Mister Pip, which was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.